Greater New Orleans

A photo, shown at left, which was posted to Facebook earlier this month showing an inmate holding apparent contraband could raise new questions about whether Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s efforts to improve jail security are working. The inmate's booking photo, shown at right, confirms his identity as Ravanell Williams, who has been held in OPP since June after being booked on counts of home invasion, theft and burglary.
(Facebook/ Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office)

A photo posted to Facebook this month could raise new questions about whether Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman's efforts to improve security at the city's jail are working.

Gusman has said he has been clamping down on contraband at Orleans Parish Prison following the airing in federal court this spring of videos showing inmates with drugs, cash, beer and a gun. Gusman's office is now required, under a sweeping federal consent decree, to bring conditions at the prison up to constitutional standards.

The Facebook photo, published on Aug. 6, shows inmate Ravanell Williams seated in a prison shower, holding what appears to be a green cigarette lighter. He is wearing a black tank top and prison-issued orange shorts. Behind him are two other inmates, wearing blue and gray trousers.

Sheriff's Office online records on Thursday showed Williams, 35, had been held in lieu of $101,500 bond since June 11, when he was booked on counts of home invasion, theft and simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. On Friday, however, those records could no longer be accessed. When asked to explain the records' apparent removal, the Sheriff's Office did not respond.

In response to questions about the photo, the Sheriff's Office released a statement saying it had recovered a cell phone on Thursday morning from an inmate housing area "as part of a continuing effort to prevent contraband from entering jail facilities." The Sheriff's Office declined to specify whether the cell phone came from the building where Williams is housed, citing an ongoing investigation.

Gusman said his office and the Orleans Parish district attorney's office are "seeking several persons of interest" in the case.

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro indicted 14 men on contraband charges in connection with the shocking videos shown in court in April. Four have now pleaded guilty. And on Aug. 15, the Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of Deputy Bryson Baptiste, who had allegedly been caught sneaking contraband into OPP.

Baptiste was booked on four counts each of malfeasance in office and introduction of contraband into a jail. Gusman said at the time that more arrests could be coming in that case.

"Jail facilities around the country fight against contraband every day," Gusman said in a statement Friday. "The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office has put a special focus on eradicating contraband, and we are pleased that the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office is our partner in this effort."

Jeffrey A. Schwartz, a California-based corrections expert who testified during the April court hearing, said the recent photo, while "embarrassing," does not necessarily mean the sheriff's efforts have not been effective. He said cell phones pose a "serious" problem in prisons because they are so small that they are often smuggled in by guards, visitors and inmates.

In addition, unlike with jail pay phones, calls made on cell phones are not recorded or monitored by law enforcement. As a result, inmates can use them for illegal activities, such as ordering killings or intimidating victims and witnesses. Alleged Uptown drug kingpin and then-murder suspect Telly Hankton was moved from the Orleans Parish jail to a St. Tammany prison in 2010 because the FBI was concerned he had access to a cell phone to talk to people on the outside. Hankton was transferred shortly after one of his cousins allegedly shot a key witness in Hankton's murder trial 17 times.

"It is something of a constant fight," Schwartz said. "One cell phone doesn't necessarily prove anything. The question is, how many cell phones are they coming up with?"

The Sheriff's Office declined to produce any data showing the results of recent contraband searches.

Schwartz noted that a lighter in prison, such as the one Williams appears to be holding in the photo, poses a severe fire risk. He said inmates could pour a flammable liquid, such as cleaning fluid or paint, onto someone and set him on fire.

While the recently posted photo does not show such severe problems as those in the April videos, Schwartz said, the appearance of apparent civilian clothing also poses a security risk. Earlier this month, inmate Reedell Parker escaped the prison's intake and processing center by walking out of the facility in civilian clothes, according to the Sheriff's Office.

"There is no question that inmate garb is better," Schwartz said.

Civilian clothes also can spark violence in a jail if one inmate is wearing an article of clothing that is especially desirable or expensive on the street, Schwartz said. And he noted that civilian clothing can allow for better hiding of contraband, such as a knife-like blade on a belt or a secret pocket sewn inside a seam. Also, Schwartz said, most prisons color-code inmates so guards can quickly ascertain whether one is out of place.

The Sheriff's Office did not respond to questions about the apparent civilian clothing in the photo.